A couple who sold most of their possessions to buy an abandoned Victorian mansion have taken up construction courses to finish the work themselves after spending their budget - and they're still not done.Jack and Jazzy Sayers went against family and friends' advice and purchased the derelict Duncombe House in 2024 for an unknown price with the hope of restoring it to the stunning home in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside it once was.The couple purchased the home after viewing it for just minutes beforehand - but once they got the keys, they realised more work than they had intended lay ahead: after years of neglect, the home was falling apart at the seams.In addition to renovation difficulties itself, in the past two years the couple have overcome multiple other hurdles, including Jack developing cancer , their cat dying, a building-related injury and a burglary.Jack explained on their YouTube channel, Duncombe House Diaries: 'Two years ago we sold everything that we owned and bought a 300-year-old, crumbling, abandoned and mushroom-filled English country mansion full of room after room of forgotten treasures, hoarded by various wealthy English families for the past 500 years.''Our friends and family all said that we were stark, raving mad to take on a project so vast and with so many problems.'There were a myriad of mushrooms growing out of the walls. Ceilings were collapsing and the only remaining residents were mice.'To add yet another level of complexity to proceedings, in the time it had taken us to agree and complete the purchase of Duncombe House, I had been diagnosed with a spot of cancer.' Jack and Jazzy Sayers sold everything they owned to buy Duncombe House (pictured) - an abandoned Victorian mansion in Staffordshire Despite starting two years ago, Jazzy, pictured with their dog, and Jack still haven't finished with the renovation project Before the couple got to work, the home was covered in mould and mushrooms - and packed to the brim with antiques'Our budget and timeframe almost immediately looked ridiculous. And we realised that if we wanted to save this incredible house and its collection of outbuildings, it was going to take every minute of our time, every penny of our savings and every drop of our sanities.'Among the items the couple found left behind from previous owners included pianos, swords hidden behind walls, boxes of gunpowder and ancient maps.The couple's first step was to remove all the antiques from inside the home to allow it to properly dry out - but, to avoid removing anything valuable, they put them in to a shipping container to rifle through at a later date.'We boxed up everything from the house, including the Victorian beds, artwork and Christmas decorations, and stored it all safely on the drive,' Jack said.Next, Jack and Jazzy focused on heating the home and getting it watertight, which was no easy feat, and the pair spent an entire summer learning how to.The windows in particular proved a time-consuming task, and the pair spent months sanding down and repairing every single frame to try to stop the rot.The bay windows took 'well over 1,000 hours in total to restore,' Jack explained - not to mention a brief hospitalisation for torn ligaments when he fell while repairing one of the lower level ones.Jack said: 'We had to cut out the rotten sections and replace them, sand off centuries of paint from the convoluted timber details, fill all the holes and then sand them again before we could add the multiple coats of paint they needed to be well protected.' The couple's first step was to remove all the stuff from the home to allow it to properly dry out (The hallway before the renovation) To avoid extra costs, the couple replastered the home themselves (The kitchen before renovations) Now the couple have started renovating the home's interiors (The guest room is pictured after renovations) Despite two years of work, the couple aren't done yet (The guest room's bathroom after renovation)Repairing the bay windows took, according to Jack, more than 1,000 hours (pictured before, left, and after, right)By Christmas 2024 the Sayers had spent almost all the money set aside for the project, meaning to go on the pair had to try and complete as much work as possible themselves.'The first winter was brutal. Even with fires the house was so cold that there was ice on the inside of the windows.And after starting on the interiors, they immediately realised that the entire house needed replastering but, with a limited budget, the pair went on a building course to learn how to complete the work themselves.The latest hurdle came from the council after it suddenly increased the property tax.Jack said: 'Without warning, they had quadrupled our monthly property taxes, taking our bank account overdrawn and leaving us in a state of abject panic. Their reasoning was that Duncombe House had simply been empty for too long.'So, despite the fact that we were working tirelessly day in day out to save this heritage asset, we had no choice. 'Just before last Christmas, we cleared the office, mopped the floors, moved in some furniture, tried to stop the dust, and moved in to Duncombe House.'But amid the drama the couple finally managed to heat the home properly for the first time in years. 'Eventually, with the help of our amazing team of plumbers, the moment finally came for the big switch on.'Feeling the house warm again for the first time in years felt truly emotional. It felt like a weight had been lifted from Duncombe House, and suddenly everything felt more possible.''After two years of toil and tumult, we are finally starting to see the bigger picture,' he added.Now they are starting to restore the antique furniture and bedrooms inside the home, but Jack added: 'We still have heaps of rooms we haven't even touched yet.'